I’m 200% for the 3D printing of lowers, mags, everything…but I think 2A supporters need to be a bit cautious in rolling this stuff out so publicly during the current debates. All it takes is some junior Senate staffer to take notice and BOOM – its in the next bill specifically.

They are actually playing this against the gun ban nonsense by saying ban whatever you want, anybody with a printer will do it anyway. It’s the mass non compliance approach. I have mixed feelings all around, but I certainly don’t oppose them.

But reality is, he’s put nothing of use online that wasn’t there 5+ years ago. The only thing you can print with a repcrap is weed-whacker level ABS mags. BFD. Oh yeah, his stuff isn’t even geared to repcrap…

Meanwhile, in the reality of reductive machining, you can get a CNC mill that will take up very little more desk space and will make fully functional lowers/frames/even barrels out of honest-to-golly aluminum and steel. Like gun hobbyists have been doing for almost a decade.

How long before they make the steel necessary for the springs a “controlled substance” that you have to register for in order to buy? If they think they can register ammunition sales it’s only a matter of time before they try to regulate the materials used to manufacture those evil magazines, or tax then so dramatically that you still can’t afford them.

The mags can take aftermarket springs and followers but word on the street is they too may soon be printable. I guess a single part that moves relative to itself, like a spring, is a more complicated animal.

In 10 packs the AR springs run about 4.50 each and the AK about 5.50 each. When the plastic printed magazine wears out (currently about 300-400 rounds) you can print another and recover the springs to place in freshly printed magazines.

The springs are metal, but you can very easily make them yourself or buy them from any number of vendors that are out there. The reason that Defense Distributed announces each project is to bring to light the fact that gun control, like slavery is a dead idea, it has no application in the digital age. You might be able to pass a law that makes it illegal to make a 30 round magazine or any number of other things, but the files of that information are protected under the 1A, much like manuals to make bombs are. One day 3-D printers will be sitting alongside 2-D printers in our houses, so it will be impossible to ban these items because you could very easily replace it. If you take a more in depth look at what 3-D printing is capable of and where it will be in 10-20 years, you can see that it is the end game for gun control.

Tyranny will find a way. In communist nations they made the mere possession of a typewriter or mimeo machine a criminal offense. I don’t see anything in the Constitution protecting our right to “keep and bear a 3D printer”. You think the liberals would take very long to notice that?

Admittedly I know close to little about 3D printing and its limits and capabilities. In addition to lower receivers and the mags shown here, what’s the outlook for being able to produe other components used in BCG’s and LPK’s? And, I’m totally fishing in the dark on this one, but does anyone see 3D printing one day allowing us to print shell casings, i.e. will materials and efficiency progress to that point in 10 years?

For something like shell casings, you’re going to need a plastic that can withstand high temperature and pressure. That’s going to take a bit of time, but I see no reason why a 3D printer couldn’t do the job.

We’re actually really close to being able to print bolts, barrels and shell casings. No one’s done it yet (that I’ve heard of anyway) but the materials and processes are almost there. The machines are still expensive and tasked with printing really high-value pieces, not a lot of free time to sneak in even a 4 hour part.

The problem is the tech for this type of 3D printing is only starting to work it’s way into the world of DIY. In 10 years? The only limitation on home metal printing will likely be the regulations.

Great stuff, thanks guys. I’m probably not in the market for a 3D printer at this point in time, but it definitely sounds like it will be a worthwhile tool to own in the coming years. I’ll be watching closely as the technology progresses. As it stands though, it probably wouldn’t hurt to start downloading the appropriate files now 

Not with ABS, but with metal printers sure. The technology currently exists to make metal parts then heat treat them. The only reason it isn’t done for production is that the mass process is still much cheaper to roll/stamp/punch/mill traditionally. But it is done for prototype reasons, and if somebody wanted to make a wild cat cartridge then sell the idea to a mass manufacturer, this would be a way to break away from being limited to neck changes and trim lengths only.

While I can see the problem of feeding and extracting plastic shell casings in a semi or full-auto with a hot chamber, seems like revolver calibers or shotguns or single-shot rifles should not really be a problem. So long as the rim is strong enough to be grabbed by the extraction mechanism they should work fine. Would not recommend trying to reload them, however.

It is only a matter of time before the government shuts down 3D printing of firearms and anything to do with firearms.

All this bragging, articles about giving Feinstein the finger, videos of 3D printed weapons and components being used, etc… is only drawing attention to something that could have conceivably slipped under the governments radar at least long enough for legal eagles to mount a proper argument in favor of 3D printing as it pertains to firearms.

Gun owners sometimes are not the sharpest tools in the shed and cause more harm to their cause then anti-gun folks.

Making guns and parts at home isn’t new or unknown. Banning printers has a snowball’s chance in hell of passing. Banning home manufacture of weapons separate from generic bans on manufacture is also extremely unlikely.

“It is only a matter of time before the government shuts down 3D printing
of firearms and anything to do with firearms. ”

Actually, its the other way around. Not everyone took metal shop in high
school or has a shop in their garage. The government could realistically
ban AR-15 magazines if you had to make them out of sheet metal…this
makes it a dead letter. It also makes the anti-gun insanity in places like
New York and the Peoples Republic of California a dead end also. The
folks in Washington can pass all the laws they want now….they can also
try to stop the tides with their bare hands…not gunna happen. They can
also try to arrest the million folks printing off “a few mags for Saturday”,
lots a luck with that too. But even that is not the
point…my loyalty is to the Constitution, as my
fathers before me and any “compliance” starts
and ends there.